Science —

Colloidal silver: a panacea or toxin?

Colloidal silver is promoted as a dietary supplement with wide-ranging health …

Colloidal silver supplements, tiny silver particles that are suspended in a liquid, have been advertised as an alternative medicine. Companies selling colloidal silver claim that the supplements produce a wide variety of health benefits. For example, Ultra Silver declares that their products are "made to enhance the function of the immune system." Utopia Silver asserts that "some of the easiest problems to handle with silver are of the stomach, the bladder, the kidneys, the liver and the intestinal tract." They also state that silver is "very effective in getting rid of most conditions of the gums and can be a powerful deterrent to cavities by rinsing the mouth after brushing."

Are silver supplements beneficial, harmless, or detrimental to our health? A survey of a few dozen peer-reviewed science articles indicates that there are many factors to consider in answering that question, since the health benefits and toxicology of silver use are still unclear.

The Many Forms of Silver

The colloidal silver used in dietary supplements comes in many forms, and trying to figure out what is actually being sold can be confusing. There are silver proteins, ionic silver, colloidal silver, and a variety of other terms and labels. But, if you ignore the jargon and just look at the chemistry, silver is a reasonably simple metal to understand.

Silver exists in either uncharged (Ag0) forms, or as a positively charged ion. Silver can have one to three positive charges, but only the singly charged ion (Ag+) is stable in most solutions. Commercial colloidal silver is usually a combination of tiny uncharged silver particles (10 to 100 nm in diameter) and positively charged silver ions suspended in ionized water, gelatin, saline or some other solution.

The labels that companies use are not always related to the content. For example, many companies use the general label "colloidal silver," but products can vary widely in the ratio of uncharged solid silver particles and silver ions. Similarly, the term "silver protein" is uninformative because it can be any combination of silver suspended in gelatin or other proteins.

Companies will sometimes claim that some forms of silver are safer or more effective than others. In general, though, researchers associate toxicity with silver ions; however, silver ions also seem to be the major contributor to any health benefits that might accrue. In addition, it is difficult to predict the amount of silver ions that will actually end up in the bloodstream after swallowing a solution of colloidal silver. Silver particles release silver ions in the body, but scientists have not found a way to determine the rate of release.

Antibacterial Properties

The main reported health benefit has to do with silver's antibacterial properties, which have been demonstrated in numerous studies. The most accepted mode of antimicrobial action involves the silver ion; it moves into cells and produces reactive oxygen species that can damage organic material like DNA.

Other experimental evidence suggests that silver particles with large surface-area-to-volume ratios can attach directly to the surface of bacteria cells to disrupt their function. In addition, the particles can prevent bacteria colonies from forming a protective biofilm, making the bacteria more vulnerable to antimicrobial agents.

Although it is certain that colloidal silver has antibacterial properties, there is little evidence that these properties specifically target harmful bacteria. This means that silver could take out helpful bacteria just as easily as it kills harmful ones.

Companies selling colloidal silver either avoid this issue in the hope that consumers won’t think of it, or they give questionable solutions to the problem. For example, Utopia Silver recommends taking "acidophilus or live culture yogurt an hour or so" after colloidal silver ingestion to "re-supply the digestive system with 'good' bacteria needed for optimum food digestion and nutrient absorption in the colon."

While no lab has published anything relevant to this suggestion, it can probably be dismissed based on what we know about gut bacteria. People have diverse and complicated floras of bacteria that are not replaced by simply eating yogurt.

Toxicity

Arguably, the most noticeable and dramatic side effect of overexposure to silver is argyria, a disease that gives the skin a gray or blue tint (think the tin man, or a cross between the silver surfer and the blue man group). A handful of cases of argyria from colloidal silver ingestion have been reported. The disease is rare, as it takes prolonged and/or large exposures.

The skin is not the only organ that is affected by silver exposure. Colloidal silver solutions contain fine particles that can pass through capillaries anywhere in the body. After exposing rats to silver, researchers found accumulations of silver particles in the liver, along with reduced liver functions.

There is also evidence that silver can accumulate in the kidney, spleen, mucous membranes, cornea, and nails. While a few studies exist on what this accumulation will do, there haven't been many well-designed experiments that directly measure the effects of prolonged exposure to colloidal silver at varying concentrations.

Overall, there is little evidence that colloidal silver is good for your health. The antibiotic properties must be balanced against the potential of damaging helpful bacteria and human cells. Some researchers suggest that there could be an ideal dose that would optimize the beneficial effects while simultaneously maintaining a manageable level of bad ones. But, until the perfect dose is found (assuming it exists), there is no rational reason to spend money on colloidal silver solutions.

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Yun Xie
Yun Xie / Yun Xie is a contributing science writer at Ars, where she covers the latest advancements in science and technology for Ars. She currently works in scientific communications, policy, and review. Emailreenxie@gmail.com//Twitter@yun_xie

Chemistry, eddie. chemistry. "Colloidial" and/or "Ionic" silver is exotic enough that my intern might not know how it is supposed to work theoretically, although is seems clear enough that there isn't evidence showing it is beneficial. I hope the average doctor would know that, but its still nice to hear about it in depth on Ars. OTOH, I've been hearing about the power of the placebo effect, which may actually be strengthening in the general population! I expect these silver supplements work as well as any placebo... which are surprisingly effective.

Yeah, they've done these sort of homeopathic expose's before, and personally, I think they're necessary. Yeah, we know it's most likely BS, but there need to be more articles of this sort that debunk the type of claims these charlatans make in an objective and non-sarcastic manner. If we just approach it with a 'well, duh' approach, or just laugh at it, that doesn't stop anyone from taking the stuff, it just makes you look like an arrogant douche.

Yes, sometimes that requires scientists to reinvent the wheel every now and then, disproving the same stupid crap (how many times have we tested vaccines to check for a link with autism already?), but it's necessary to develop the body or research and evidence necessary to convince people that no, this so-called 'medicine' is really a poison, and you shouldn't be taking it.

That all being said... ARE YOU KIDDING ME? We really needed this to tell us that ingesting massive amounts of heavy metals is BAD for you? Yeah, it can kill bacteria, but so does ammonia... you don't see me recommending people drink a glass of it a day, do you?

Yeah, they've done these sort of homeopathic expose's before, and personally, I think they're necessary. Yeah, we know it's most likely BS, but there need to be more articles of this sort that debunk the type of claims these charlatans make in an objective and non-sarcastic manner. If we just approach it with a 'well, duh' approach, or just laugh at it, that doesn't stop anyone from taking the stuff, it just makes you look like an arrogant douche.

Yes, sometimes that requires scientists to reinvent the wheel every now and then, disproving the same stupid crap (how many times have we tested vaccines to check for a link with autism already?), but it's necessary to develop the body or research and evidence necessary to convince people that no, this so-called 'medicine' is really a poison, and you shouldn't be taking it.

That all being said... ARE YOU KIDDING ME? We really needed this to tell us that ingesting massive amounts of heavy metals is BAD for you? Yeah, it can kill bacteria, but so does ammonia... you don't see me recommending people drink a glass of it a day, do you?

That would depend entirely on how much jargon the seller uses, how fancy the packaging is and how many so called "endorsements" health "professional" gave it.

There is no context for this article. Why is this an article here? What the hell was the point of this?

This article is so out of place, my first reaction after reading the first paragraph was that someone has hacked Ars and posted weird shit. This entire article is a non-sequitur to Ars Technica.

There doesn't have to be context for the article. The article could be the starting point for context.

Question, how does silver reduce liver functions?

The issue with carrots (or tomatoes) and skin color is what came to mind during this article. If silver is simply a skin-tone transformer, then there should be no problem with using small amounts of it.

As for the bacteria part, it is my belief that silver would kill good bacteria as well as bad bacteria. Most products targeting bacteria that are man-made do not differentiate between the two. Silver, as a mineral, might not be any different, as it is not something native to the body in substantial quantities.

We really needed this to tell us that ingesting massive amounts of heavy metals is BAD for you?

I hardly think any of the producers' recommended dosage could qualify as massive amounts of silver. Most likely, it's a harmless dosage with minor good and bad effects we don't really understand. The real danger is when people who don't know what they're doing try to make it themselves (which is quite popular), ending up with something 100x more potent and less controlled. AFAIK, this is where argyria comes in (and probably lots of internal problems). Even with high dosage, it often takes years for the skin (and hair) to turn shockingly silver/blue, which means the user and his/her family and friends will not notice the gradual change. I've had a similar issue with carrots turning my skin a dull orange after using them as a main staple; it was only friends and family who hadn't seen me in months who noticed the color change.

An oral rinse application does seem to make a lot of sense to me. Are there good indications of its effectiveness on s. mutans? If it is expected to be effective, on what time scale? What's the easiest/cheapest way to get counts?

Once silver reaches the liver, it can cause oxidative stress. Researchers also found evidence that silver ions bind to reduced glutathione, which is bad because reduced glutathione have many functions like detoxifying cells of carcinogenic compounds, maintaining the function of red blood cells, and regulating immune responses.

Regular intake of even low doses of silver ions over a long period of time have been shown to cause some fatty degeneration of the liver and changes in blood cells.

There is no context for this article. Why is this an article here? What the hell was the point of this?

I agree completely. There are plenty of other sites that rail against a myriad of untested treatments. In this case, use of colloidal silver is pretty far from mainstream or even showing up in the news. Why the choice of this particular thing? Are we going to see a series on off-label drug use too -- in those cases, we actually have testing and evidence of ineffectiveness.

Quote:

Hey eddie, it's a science article about a bogus 'naturopathic' medicine and the dangers associated with it.

Why do you call it naturopathic? I've never seen a naturopath advise anyone to use colloidal silver. In fact, aside from internet adverts, I've never seen anyone advise the use of colloidal silver. Also, you can't call it bogus, unless you have evidence.

While I'm sure the author is certainly a smart chemist, I'm sure why that qualifies to comment on homeopathic medicines or any other kind of medicines for that matter. I didn't see any references to clinical studies proving or disproving the efficacy/dangers of silver quoted in this article.

I would be very interested in learning about the true benefits/dangers of this material. I have been told it is good for the immune system and I would like to studies for pro and against the material to make a more well-educated decision.

Why didn't you call colloidal silver "nanoparticles", that would freak out alt-medies.

Silver nanothreads have practical uses as anti-bacterials in clothing. Science does support using silver as an external antibiotic, but nobody has done research for internal uses (I doubt research would be approved). We don't even know if nanoparticles are absorbed though the small intestine.

Most people selling this snake oil produce it via electrolysis, so it is ionic and toxix. The only person I knew selling it was a paranoid conspiracy theorist.

While I'm sure the author is certainly a smart chemist, I'm sure why that qualifies to comment on homeopathic medicines or any other kind of medicines for that matter. I didn't see any references to clinical studies proving or disproving the efficacy/dangers of silver quoted in this article.

Nothing in the article mentioned homeopathy, and calling these products medicines is surely stretching that label. There is, so far as I'm aware, just as much evidence that chocolate is a medicine as colloidal silver, and far more that tonic water is one (though even the tonic water which contains quinine does not contain a medically effictive dose). The article also noted that there is very little evidence of anything at all relating to colloidal silver; perhaps that's why there are no references?

Why do you call it naturopathic? I've never seen a naturopath advise anyone to use colloidal silver. In fact, aside from internet adverts, I've never seen anyone advise the use of colloidal silver. Also, you can't call it bogus, unless you have evidence.

"Why do you call it naturopathic?" I was thinking the same thing.

"Also, you can't call it bogus, unless you have evidence."When you are talking about commercial medicine (or anything that is similar to such), I would say you would need to prove it works rather than proving it doesn't work. Or at least that's how I think FDA approves new medicine anyway. Of course, this may not be classified as medicine to begin with so who knows.

Just to help out those that might be interested but not know too much about colloidal silver, I'll try to be as objective as I can about my own experience. Originally, I'd read that rich people who ate on silver plates and used silver chalices didn't get the Plague (the "blue bloods") and that lead me to colloidal silver. I've used colloidal silver in the past. Most recently, about a year and a half ago to subside a flu. There are kits that you can buy that allow you to make it yourself. Using distilled water and .9999 pure silver rods about a 3/32nds of an inch in diameter and about 10 inches long, you can make a batch in about 45 minutes if you boil the water first.

I went through a period of experiment with alternative medicines. I'm as healthy as the next guy, but far more curious. Silver was one of the few things I found that worked, for the most part. I couldn't imagine taking it in pill form, which seems to be a good way to get argyria nice and quick. There are a few rare cases where the people were playing with huge particle sizes by way of salts and such resulted in very blueish skin. But 4ppm or thereabouts it is said has little effect, just like how some forms of mercury can pass through you without much effect at all. That's what the machine I used made. (Trust me: I'm aware of all the non-scientific statements I'm making, but objectivity is the goal here).

The flu I was able to subside happened during a period where I was questioning the whole deal (I'm very familiar with placebo effects). I just haven't "needed" it since, so I've not used it recently.God knows what the longterm effects are of course. Colloidal silver "industry" that I found was upfront about food and bad bacteria getting whacked. I'd never read about yogurt being a restorer or good bacteria in relation to silver. My family and I still use bandaids with silver in them (commercially available) and I recently shocked a doctor in emergency with the cleanliness of a gash I gave myself after futzing with a BBQ and placing a silver bandaid on it. He basically didn't have to clean it before sewing it up.

A general biologist pal of mine whom I've used for years as my resource of course poopooed the whole idea of taking the stuff, but was not wholly dismissive of silver's properties as an antibiotic. It being used for thousands of years for that very usage.

There is no context for this article. Why is this an article here? What the hell was the point of this?

I agree completely. There are plenty of other sites that rail against a myriad of untested treatments. In this case, use of colloidal silver is pretty far from mainstream or even showing up in the news. Why the choice of this particular thing? Are we going to see a series on off-label drug use too -- in those cases, we actually have testing and evidence of ineffectiveness.

Quote:

Hey eddie, it's a science article about a bogus 'naturopathic' medicine and the dangers associated with it.

Why do you call it naturopathic? I've never seen a naturopath advise anyone to use colloidal silver. In fact, aside from internet adverts, I've never seen anyone advise the use of colloidal silver. ...

Actually, that's how science works. It's bogus until you provide evidence for it not being bogus.

That sort of thinking compels people to refrain from looking into new ideas that people have not found substantial evidence for, and quite a few important discoveries or discoveries that have lead to even more important discoveries have been found because someone decided to look into an idea that was not based in anything that could be sensed, and was, for most purposes, illogical. Science is a tool. Anything can be truthful with science if you spin it a certain way. Science cannot state whether something is bogus or not. Only you can make that decision.

Why do you call it naturopathic? I've never seen a naturopath advise anyone to use colloidal silver. In fact, aside from internet adverts, I've never seen anyone advise the use of colloidal silver. Also, you can't call it bogus, unless you have evidence.

I love how you pretend to be a skeptical thinker but come off as an irrational contrarian.

That sort of thinking compels people to refrain from looking into new ideas that people have not found substantial evidence for, and quite a few important discoveries or discoveries that have lead to even more important discoveries have been found because someone decided to look into an idea that was not based in anything that could be sensed, and was, for most purposes, illogical. Science is a tool. Anything can be truthful with science if you spin it a certain way. Science cannot state whether something is bogus or not. Only you can make that decision.

It compels people to have compelling evidence to continue wasting important time and monetary resources on wild goose chases and phantoms, which are incredibly easy to do, considering the multi-billion dollar supplement industry which is based on quacks, assumptions, and "folk cures" that in most all cases have nothing to do with valid results. The lack of regulation in the supplement industry is absolutely disgusting, but certainly a libertarian's dream.

Actually, that's how science works. It's bogus until you provide evidence for it not being bogus.

That sort of thinking compels people to refrain from looking into new ideas that people have not found substantial evidence for, and quite a few important discoveries or discoveries that have lead to even more important discoveries have been found because someone decided to look into an idea that was not based in anything that could be sensed, and was, for most purposes, illogical. Science is a tool. Anything can be truthful with science if you spin it a certain way. Science cannot state whether something is bogus or not. Only you can make that decision.

There's nothing stopping people from looking into new ideas. If someone suspects an existing knowledge is wrong, or if they thought up of new and novel way to prove, or utilize existing knowledge whether it seems logical or not, they can investigate it. During this investigation, they would have to follow steps to mitigate the damage if they can not proceed further with their idea such as proof of concept research. However when they try to assert that new idea, we expect certain amount of rational explanation on why the idea is valid.

According to that wonderfully airtight hypothesis, Michael Jackson must have consumed large amounts of milk. And I guess if your face ever turns blue, there's no point in calling 911, it must be that you just ate a lot of blueberries.

I'd guess the people people most likely to use products like this are also the ones most likely to be taking faddish fruit extract antioxidants... kind of funny since the silver kills bacteria by creating free radicals.

(I like articles like this because there aren't a lot of places to get science literate articles on a variety of subjects...)

How many other articles on Ars have to do with alternative medicine / homeopathic medicine such as this one? I would expect that Ars' readership already is able to distinguish between crackpot remedies and real medicine. I've never seen an article like this on Ars and don't understand its place here. This seems more apropos on a site that spends time discussing medical remedies. Where is the "Technica"?

Keeping on topic, there is something called Silver Sulfadiazine, which is a topical antibiotic for burns. It's prescription only, marketed under trade names such as Flamazine and Silvadene.

It has a small amount of silver in it and is only used externally. Eating silver is idiotic. Do Arsians really need to be told not to eat silver? What's next, an article explaining that eating lead is bad for you?

How many other articles on Ars have to do with alternative medicine / homeopathic medicine such as this one?

Do a search. It happens with some regularity.

ribald_eddie wrote:

Do Arsians really need to be told not to eat silver? What's next, an article explaining that eating lead is bad for you?

Did you miss the part of the article where it stated that the toxicology of colloidal silver is poorly understood? Particle size, ionic versus metallic grain, and various other factors are relevant, and there simply don't appear to be definitive studies on this stuff (as is, depressingly, quite often the case).

Do Arsians really need to be told not to eat silver? What's next, an article explaining that eating lead is bad for you?

Oh, I'm sure if you marketed lead as "the all-natural alternative to the 'poisons' of big pharma your doctor doesn't want you to know about" and trotted out some "testimonials" about how it can cure everything from ass cancer to hiccups, you'd find great masses of well-intentioned but critical thinking-challenged folk pounding on the doors of their local GNC to buy "pure organic lead capsules." And oddly, the audiences willing to depart sanity and gallop after these 'miracle cures' seem to cut across all other boundaries of education and experience. So yes, even Arsians can probably do with the reminder to not put bad things in your mouth.